Service bus workflow templates

ABSTRACT

In some examples, a service bus may include one or more computing devices configured to translate requests from one or more client applications to one or more proxy services. According to at least one example, a system may create a resource object based at least in part on a template. The template may be associated with configuration information that may identify at least one parameter associated with a third-party application. In some examples, the third-party application may be a web service or a client application. Additionally, the system may generate a message flow based at least in part on the resource object. The system may also process a request, from the third-party application, based at least in part on the message flow. Further, the system may provide a graphical user interface (GUI) associated with the template, the GUI configured to enable input of the configuration information.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, and claims benefit and priorityto application Ser. No. 13/748,403, filed Jan. 23, 2013, entitled“SERVICE BUS WORKFLOW TEMPLATES,” the entire contents of which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Client applications often desire to interact with third-party proxyservices. For example, a client application may wish to make requests toa web service. However, the client application and the web service mayoften be configured such that they cannot directly communicate with oneanother. For example, the client application may utilize a firstprotocol, such as the java message service (JMS), for sending requests,while the web service may operate under a different protocol, such asthe hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). Additionally, service buses orother types of mediators may be configured to appropriately translatesuch requests so that the two entities may communicate. However,configuring multiple similar translations based on one or more commonguidelines within a single service bus may be time consuming and errorprone.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Techniques for providing workflow templates within a service bus aredescribed. As used herein, a “message flow” (also referred to as a“workflow”) may include any type of flow that may be generated orotherwise managed by a workflow engine or other software module forprocessing instructions according to a flow. In some examples, theservice bus may include one or more computing devices (e.g., within adistributed computing system) configured to translate requests from oneor more client applications to one or more proxy services. According toat least one example, a computing system may create a template-basedworkflow based at least in part on a template. The template may beassociated with configuration information that may identify at least oneparameter associated with a third-party application. In some examples,the third-party application may be a web service or a clientapplication. Additionally, the computing system may generate a messageflow based at least in part on the template-based workflow. Thecomputing system may also process a request, from the third-partyapplication, based at least in part on the message flow. Further, thecomputing system may provide a graphical user interface (GUI) associatedwith the template, the GUI configured to enable input of theconfiguration information.

In some examples, the template-based workflow may include configurableactions and/or locked actions. The message flow may also be configuredto operate as part of a service bus (e.g., a mediation engine). Themediation engine may be configured to mediate between the third-partyapplications and one or more services. The one or more services may beweb services. Additionally, in some examples, the computing system mayreceive updated configuration information via the template. The systemmay update the template-based workflow based at least in part on theupdated configuration information. Further, the system may automaticallyupdate the message flow based at least in part on the updatedtemplate-based workflow.

According to at least one example, a computer-readable memory may storeinstructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause theone or more processors to generate a template-based workflow based atleast in part on a workflow template. Additionally, the instructions mayalso cause the one or more processors to generate a plurality ofworkflows. The instructions may also cause the one or more processors toreceive, from a remote application, a request to access a proxy service.The instructions may further cause the one or more processors to processthe request from the remote application based at least in part on theworkflows. At least one of the plurality of the workflows may include atleast the template-based workflow.

In some examples, the workflow template may include at leastconfiguration information associated with the remote application.Additionally, in some examples, at least one of the plurality of theworkflows may be configured to inherit changes made to thetemplate-based workflow. The change may be made to the template-basedworkflow based at least in part on the remote application updating theworkflow template. In some examples, the template-based workflow may beconfigured to include at least one other template-based workflow thatmay be generated based at least in part on a second workflow template.The template-based workflow may also include branch nodes that mayprovide one or more additional workflow templates. In some examples, theproxy services may be configured to at least translate access requestsinto requests configured for transmission to the proxy service. Suchrequests may be received over a network connection.

According to at least one example, a computer-implemented method mayinclude providing a user interface configured to enable a clientapplication to configure a workflow template. The workflow template maybe configured to include at least configuration information associatedwith the client application. The method may also include generating atemplate-based workflow based at least in part on the workflow template.A plurality of workflows may also be generated, where each workflowincludes the template-based workflow. The method may also includereceiving a request to access a proxy service. The request may bereceived from a client application. The method may further includeprocessing the request from the client application based at least inpart on the plurality of workflows.

In some examples, the user interface may include at least a GUIcomponent configured to enable entrance of the configuration informationassociated with the client application. The workflows may be configuredto perform actions based at least in part on the template-basedworkflow. In some examples, the GUI may be further configured to enablethe client application to update the workflow template with additionalconfiguration information. The workflows may then be modified based atleast in part on the change to the template-based workflow, the changebased at least in part on the updated workflow template. Further, insome examples, the workflows may be modified in real time with referenceto the updated workflow template.

The foregoing, together with other features and embodiments, will becomemore apparent upon referring to the following specification, claims, andaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanyingfigures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference numberidentifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Theuse of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates similaror identical items.

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram illustrating an examplearchitecture for providing workflow templates for use within one or moreservice buses that includes one or more service bus computers, one ormore client application computers, and one or more service providercomputers connected via one or more networks, according to at least oneexample.

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram illustrating at least some featuresof the workflow templates described herein, according to at least oneexample.

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram illustrating at least one userinterface for implementing or enabling the workflow templates describedherein, according to at least one example.

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram illustrating at least oneadditional user interface for implementing or enabling the workflowtemplates described herein, according to at least one example.

FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram illustrating at least one userinterface for implementing or enabling the template-based workflowsassociated with the workflow templates described herein, according to atleast one example.

FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram illustrating at least some featuresof a service bus for implementing the workflow templates describedherein, according to at least a few examples.

FIG. 7 is a simplified block diagram illustrating at least someadditional features of a service bus for implementing the workflowtemplates described herein, according to at least a few examples.

FIG. 8 is a simplified block diagram illustrating at least one messageflow process associated with the workflow templates described herein,according to at least a few examples.

FIG. 9 is a simplified block diagram illustrating at least some featuresof a proxy service for utilizing the workflow templates describedherein, according to at least a few examples.

FIG. 10 is a simplified flow diagram illustrating at least some featuresof one or more methods configured to implement the workflow templatesdescribed herein, according to at least a few examples.

FIG. 11 is a simplified flow diagram illustrating at least someadditional features of one or more methods configured to implement theworkflow templates described herein, according to at least a fewexamples.

FIG. 12 is a simplified flow diagram illustrating at least someadditional features of one or more methods configured to implement theworkflow templates described herein, according to at least a fewexamples.

FIG. 13 is a simplified block diagram illustrating components of asystem environment that may be used in accordance with an embodiment ofthe workflow templates described herein, according to at least oneexample.

FIG. 14 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a computer systemthat may be used in accordance with embodiments of the workflowtemplates described herein, according to at least one example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, various embodiments will be described. Forpurposes of explanation, specific configurations and details are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments.However, it will also be apparent to one skilled in the art that theembodiments may be practiced without the specific details. Furthermore,well-known features may be omitted or simplified in order not to obscurethe embodiment being described.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to, among otherthings, providing workflow templates for use within one or more servicebusses (also referred to as translators, mediation engines, or thelike). In some examples, a service bus may implement one or moreworkflows (also called pipelines and/or message flows) for enablinginteraction between software applications. In some aspects, the servicebus may be configured to provide asynchronous message orientedcommunication and/or interaction between such applications which may notcommunicate using the same languages. For example, a first clientapplication may wish to request a resource from a proxy service (e.g., aweb service). However, if the two systems (i.e., the client applicationand the web service) utilize different protocols and/or languages, theservice bus may facilitate the resource request on behalf of the clientapplication, and then provide the response from the web service back tothe client application. Essentially, the service bus may act as atranslator or mediator between the two applications.

In some aspects, the service bus may provide commonly utilized commodityservices and may be configured to adopt, translate, and/or route clientrequests to appropriate proxy services. For example, the service bus maymonitor and/or control routing of message exchanges between services.The service bus may also resolve contention between communicatingservice components and/or control deployment and/or versioning ofservices. Further, in some examples, the service bus may marshal theuser of redundant services and/or may cater to commonly needed commodityservices such as, but not limited to, event handling, eventchoreography, data transformation, data mapping, message and/or eventqueuing and/or sequencing, security and/or exception handling, protocolconversion (i.e., translating), and/or the enforcement of proper qualityof communications and/or services.

Additionally, in some examples, the service bus may be configured toimplement one or more workflow templates. Workflow templates may beprovided via a GUI and/or may provide the ability to provision newservices on the service bus without much repetition. For example, aworkflow template may enable a developer to provision services thatconform to one or more best practices for a variety of integrationpatterns. Additionally, a workflow template may allow a developer tobuild out a message flow within the service bus that can be re-used as a“prototype” for provisioning new services quickly. For example, atemplate designer may define a general shape or pattern of a messageflow, and may be able to generate many workflows from the workflowtemplate. The workflows, in some aspects, may each follow the samepattern as the workflow template and/or may allow for pieces of customlogic to be inserted in particular places of the workflow.

In some aspects, the workflow template may define a notion of a resource(also referred to as a workflow resource or a “template-based workflow”)that may have a full life cycle like other service bus artifacts.Additionally, message flows may be created and/or provisioned based atleast in part on this workflow template. In some examples, a templatedesigner may designate particular portions of the workflow templateand/or message flow where business logic may reside. In other words, theworkflow template may include configurable actions and lockable actions.In this way, other than the configurable actions, the message flows mayfollow flows defined by the workflow template.

This brief introduction, including section titles and correspondingsummaries, is provided for the reader's convenience and is not intendedto limit the scope of the claims, nor the preceding sections.Furthermore, the techniques described above and below may be implementedin a number of ways and in a number of contexts. Several exampleimplementations and contexts are provided with reference to thefollowing figures, as described below in more detail. However, thefollowing implementations and contexts are but a few of many examples.

FIG. 1 depicts a simplified example system or architecture 100 in whichtechniques for managing workflow templates may be implemented. Inarchitecture 100, one or more service bus computers 102 may provide aservice bus 104 for implementing the workflow templates describedherein. In some examples, the service bus 104 and/or the service buscomputers 102 may be accessible to one or more client applicationcomputers 106 and/or one or more service provider computers 108 via oneor more networks 110.

By way of example only, the service bus computers 102 may be configuredto execute the service bus 104 as well as other programming modules orthe like. Additionally, in some examples, the client applicationcomputers 106 may be configured to execute one or more clientapplications. Client applications may include, but are not limited to,web services, client-side software applications, web browsers, emailclients, etc. Further, in some aspects, the service provider computers108 may be configured to execute one or more services (e.g., server-sideapplications, web services, or the like).

In some examples, the networks 110 may include any one or a combinationof multiple different types of networks, such as cable networks, theInternet, wireless networks, cellular networks, intranet systems, and/orother private and/or public networks. While the illustrated examplerepresents the client application computers 106 and/or the serviceprovider computers 108 accessing the service bus 104 over the networks110, the described techniques may equally apply in instances where theservice bus computers 102 are accessible over a landline phone, via akiosk, or in any other manner. It is also noted that the describedtechniques may apply in other client/server arrangements (e.g., set-topboxes, etc.), as well as in non-client/server arrangements (e.g.,locally stored applications, etc.).

In some aspects, the service bus computers 102 may be any type ofcomputing devices such as, but not limited to, mobile, desktop,thin-client, and/or cloud computing devices, such as servers. In someexamples, the service bus computers 102 may be in communication with theclient application computers 106 and/or the service provider computers108 via the networks 110, or via other network connections. The servicebus computers 102 may include one or more servers, perhaps arranged in acluster, as a server farm, or as individual servers not associated withone another. These servers may be configured to perform or otherwisehost features described herein including, but not limited to, theworkflow templates. Additionally, in some aspects, the service buscomputers 102 may be configured as part of an integrated, distributedcomputing environment. The service bus computers 102 may operate withina Java EE container, a WebLogic server, or any other environmentconfigured with one or more server applications, enterprise portals,application integration platforms, transaction servers and/orinfrastructures, telecommunication platforms, and/or web servers.

In one illustrative configuration, the service bus computers 102 mayinclude at least one memory 112 and one or more processing units (orprocessor(s)) 114. The processor(s) 114 may be implemented asappropriate in hardware, computer-executable instructions, firmware, orcombinations thereof. Computer-executable instruction or firmwareimplementations of the processor(s) 114 may include computer-executableor machine-executable instructions written in any suitable programminglanguage to perform the various functions described.

The memory 112 may store program instructions that are loadable andexecutable on the processor(s) 114, as well as data generated during theexecution of these programs. Depending on the configuration and type ofthe service bus computers 102, the memory 112 may be volatile (such asrandom access memory (RAM)) and/or non-volatile (such as read-onlymemory (ROM), flash memory, etc.). The service bus computers 102 orservers may also include additional storage 116, which may includeremovable storage and/or non-removable storage. The additional storage116 may include, but is not limited to, magnetic storage, optical disks,and/or tape storage. The disk drives and their associatedcomputer-readable media may provide non-volatile storage ofcomputer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, andother data for the computing devices. In some implementations, thememory 112 may include multiple different types of memory, such asstatic random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM),or ROM.

The memory 112, the additional storage 116, both removable andnon-removable, are all examples of computer-readable storage media. Forexample, computer-readable storage media may include volatile ornon-volatile, removable or non-removable media implemented in any methodor technology for storage of information such as computer-readableinstructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Thememory 112 and the additional storage 116 are all examples of computerstorage media.

The service bus computers 102 may also contain communicationsconnection(s) 118 that allow the service bus computers 102 tocommunicate with a stored database, another computing device or server,user terminals, and/or other devices on the networks 114. The servicebus computers 102 may also include input/output (I/O) device(s) 120,such as a keyboard, a mouse, a pen, a voice input device, a touch inputdevice, a display, speakers, a printer, etc.

Turning to the contents of the memory 112 in more detail, the memory 112may include an operating system 122 and one or more application programsor services for implementing the features disclosed herein including atleast a service bus module 124. In some examples, the service bus module124 may be configured to provide a service bus 104, receive requests forservices from client application computers 106, transmit requests toservice provider computers 108, and provide responses to requests backto the client application computers 106. In other words, the service busmodule 124 may be utilized as a mediator, translator, or type of proxyservice proxy between the client application computers 106 and theservice provider computers 108.

By way of example only, the service bus 104 may be configured with aproxy component 126 and/or a business services component 128. The proxycomponent 126 may be configured to receive requests from the clientapplication computers 106. Such requests may include requests for data,services, or other information associated with the one or more serviceprovider computers 108. Additionally, such requests may be formatted inaccordance with one or more particular protocols that are used by clientapplications of the client application computers 106 sending therequests. As such, the proxy may act a portal or application programminginterface (API) for interacting with the service bus 104 from the clientapplication side. In some examples, the business services component 128may be configured to provide requests to the service provider computers108 in a language or based at least in part on a protocol familiar to orotherwise understood by the service provider computers 108. For example,each service provider computer 126 may execute one or more services thatoperate under different protocols or different programming languages. Assuch, via the business services component 128, the service bus 104 mayeffectively communicate with the service provider computers 108independent of the protocols, formatting, or languages utilized by theclient applications. As such, and similar to the proxy component 126,the business services component 128 may act as a portal to the serviceprovider computers 108. In some examples, the proxy component 126 mayexpose APIs to the client application computers 106 and/or the serviceprovider computers 108 may expose APIs to the business servicescomponent 128. However, other configurations are possible as well.

In some aspects, the service bus 104 may be configured to store and/orimplement one or more template-based workflows 130, one or more standardworkflows 131 (also referred to as a “standard workflow,” a “standardpipeline,” or similar phrases), and/or one or more workflow templates132. A template-based workflow 130 may include, but is not limited to,parameter information, request information, workflow messageinformation, and/or actions to be performed within the workflow. In someinstances, a template-based workflow 130 may be considered a pipelineresource, a concrete pipeline resource, and/or a concrete pipeline. Inother words, the template-based workflow 130 may implement a workflow orprocess for implementing a workflow on behalf of a client application.As such, the template-based workflows may be created or otherwiseconfigured by the client application computers 106 for effectivelyrouting, translating, configuring, and/or formatting requests from theclient application computers 106 to the service provider computers 108.Additionally, in some examples, the template-based workflows 130 may beinstantiated by or otherwise include a link to, among other things, theone or more workflow templates 132 (also referred to as “workflowtemplates,” “template resources,” “pipeline templates,” or other similarphrases including the term “template,” or “templates”). The template 132may be created, generated, requested, and/or configured by the clientapplication computers 106 (e.g., via a GUI provided by the service bus104).

In some examples, and as discussed briefly above, a template-basedworkflow 130 may be instantiated by or otherwise include a link to atemplate 132 and/or may be formed based at least in part on the template132 and/or other customizations. In other words, a template-basedworkflow 130 may be an object oriented abstraction formed by combining atemplate 132 with any customizations (i.e., a template override 140 orthe like). As noted above, a template 132 may be configured withparameters 134 (e.g., provided by the client application computers 106)and/or actions to be performed by the service bus 104. Actions mayinclude both or either configurable actions/placeholders 136 or lockedactions 138. In some examples, a configurable action 136 may be aplaceholder that otherwise indicates that a developer may configure theaction to be performed in the workflow based at least in part upon thistemplate 132. However, a locked action 138 may be configured by anadministrator of the client application computers 106 (e.g., a templatedesigner, etc.) such that the action in the template-based workflow 130may not be configured in the template-based workflow 130 based at leastin part upon this template 132. In other words, these locked actions 138may be predetermined by the administrators to conform to some bestpractices or guidelines of the client application. As such, the lockedactions 138 may be locked in the template to ensure that they are notchanged in the template-based workflow 130. Further, template-basedworkflows 130 that include templates 132 or are formed based at least inpart on templates 132 may inherit the actions, parameters, and/orbusiness rules of the template. In this way, changes to the template 132after the template-based workflows 130 are instantiated may be pushed toor otherwise updated within the template-based workflows 130 (e.g., inreal-time). At least in this context, updating the template-basedworkflows 130 in real-time may be defined by an update instruction beingperformed substantially immediately after the template 132 is changed,at least before the next operation of the template-based workflow 130 isperformed, and/or in direct response to the template 132 being updated.Additionally, in some examples, the template-based workflows 130 mayalso be configured with and/or by overrides 140 (e.g., a templateoverride designed to alter the configuration of the workflow templates132 and/or the functionality of the template-based workflows 130).Further, in at least one non-limiting example, the standard workflows131 may include workflows that are not instantiated using (or linked to)workflow templates 132.

As noted above, users (i.e., client application computers 106) mayrequest a mechanism to rapidly provision new services on the service bus104 that follow established best practices for a variety of integrationpatterns. As such, the client application computers 106 may utilize thetemplates 132 to build out message flows and re-use them as a prototypeor template for provisioning new services quickly and with few or noerrors. The template designer (i.e., an administrator associated with aclient application hosted by a client application computer 106) maydefine a general shape or pattern of a message flow, and be able togenerate many template-based workflows 130 from this template 132 thatall follow the same pattern, possibly with a few pieces of custom logicinserted in specifically designated places. In some examples a user(e.g., a template designer or the like) may create and/or managetemplates. In some aspects, a user (e.g., an operator or the like) maycreate and/or customize message flows based on the template.

Additional types of computer storage media (which may also benon-transitory) that may be present in the service bus computers 102 mayinclude, but are not limited to, programmable random access memory(PRAM), SRAM, DRAM, RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology,compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile discs (DVD) orother optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic diskstorage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which canbe used to store the desired information and which can be accessed bythe service bus computers 102. Combinations of any of the above shouldalso be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

Alternatively, computer-readable communication media may includecomputer-readable instructions, program modules, or other datatransmitted within a data signal, such as a carrier wave, or othertransmission. However, as used herein, computer-readable storage mediadoes not include computer-readable communication media.

FIG. 2 depicts a simplified example architecture 200 in which additionaltechniques for providing workflow templates may be implemented. Inarchitecture 200, the one or more client application computers 106 ofFIG. 1 may access the service bus 104 via the proxy 126, as describedwith reference to FIG. 1, over one or more networks 202. The proxy 126may in some instances access or instantiate one or more proxy servicesas defined and/or configured by a user. Additionally, in some examples,the service bus 104 may also be configured to include a developerenvironment (e.g., an integrated development environment (IDE)) 204and/or a web console 206 for configuring the service bus 104. As such,one or more developers 208, accessing developer computers 210(1)-(N),may access the service bus 104 via the developer IDE 204 and/or the webconsole 206. In some examples, the web console 206 may provide a GUI fordesigning and/or implementing the one or more templates described abovewith reference to FIG. 1. Additionally, in some examples, the developerIDE 204 may be a software application hosted by or otherwise executed inconjunction with the service bus 104 for accessing, configuring,implementing, and/or updating the templates. Further, in some examples,the developer devices 210 may be one of the client application computers106 and/or the developers 208 may be associated with the clientapplications that run on the client application computers 106.

In some examples, the developer IDE 204 and/or the web console 206 maybe in communication with one or more data stores. For example, thedeveloper IDE 204 and/or the web console 206 may access an overridesstorage device 212 and/or a main flow and placeholders storage device214. In some examples, the overrides storage device 212 may includeactions, nodes, branches, changed overrides, and/or added overrides. Insome aspects, an override may be utilized by a developer 208 or otherclient application computer 106 user to make changes to values of actionproperties to be performed by the service bus 104. For example, anexecutable workflow 216 may be generated by the service bus 104 based atleast in part on actions, placeholders, and/or parameters provided bythe developers 208. However, in some examples, actions and/or parametersassociated with a template may override predefined actions and/orparameters. In some cases, however, only unlocked actions may beoverridden. Additionally, in some examples, the overrides storage device212 may store only the overrides, while the main flow information and/orthe placeholders may be stored in the main flow and placeholders storagedevice 214. In some aspects, an action placeholder override may overridea placeholder in a template with one or more actions. Further, the mainflow and placeholders storage device 214 may include message flow pairnodes, proxy information, and/or placeholders. Placeholders may includepositions in a template that indicate user- or developer-definableand/or—customizable actions. For example, if a developer 208 decides toallow a user of the client application computers 106 to customize aworkflow by adding actions into the template, a placeholder may beinserted. The user may then add actions and/or other conditions at theplaceholder.

In some examples, a node placeholder override may allow a user toconfigure one or more pipeline pair nodes and/or branch nodes. The nodeplaceholder override may also allow a user to route nodes in a workflowthat includes workflow templates. A template operational branch nodeplaceholder override may allow a user to configure an operational branchnode in a workflow that includes a workflow template. Additionally, insome examples, a template conditional branch node placeholder overridemay allow a user to configure a conditional branch node in a workflowthat includes a workflow template. A stage placeholder override mayallow a user to configure one or more stages. An action placeholderoverride may allow a user to configure one or more actions. A stageoverride may allow a user to configure stage-specific properties, suchas, but not limited to, a list of user-defined namespaces or the like.Further, an action override may allow a user to override properties inan unlocked action.

In some aspects, a template-based workflow 130 (e.g., as described withreference to FIG. 1) and/or a workflow template (e.g., as described withreference to FIG. 1) may be generated based at least in part on the datastored within the overrides data store 212 and/or the main flow andplaceholders data store 214, respectively. For example, overrideinformation may be utilized to generate the template-based workflow 130which may or may not yet include any template information. Additionally,main flow and/or placeholder information may be utilized to generate theworkflow template 132 which may include the template information derivedfrom the main flow and placeholder information or otherwise receivedfrom the developer IDE 204 (or, in some aspects, via the web console206). Upon generation of the template-based workflows 130 and/or theworkflow templates 132, the service bus 104 may merge 222 the tworesources to generate a standard workflow 131 (e.g., as described abovewith reference to FIG. 1). This standard workflow 131 may be stored in amemory such as, but not limited to, the memory 112 of FIG. 1. Further,in some examples, the service bus 104 may compile 224 the standardworkflow 131 (e.g., including the workflow template 132) to generate theexecutable workflow 216. As such, when the client application computers106 later access the proxy 126 by sending requests to the service bus104, the proxy service 126 may access the executable workflow 216, via(or by utilizing) the proxy service 203, for processing such requests.

As with the networks 110 of FIG. 1, the networks 202 may include any oneor a combination of multiple different types of networks, such as cablenetworks, the Internet, wireless networks, cellular networks, intranetsystems, and/or other private and/or public networks. While theillustrated example represents the developer devices 210 and/or theclient application computers 106 accessing the service bus 104 over thenetworks 202, the described techniques may equally apply in instanceswhere the developer devices 210 and/or the client application computers106 interact with the service bus 104 over a landline phone, via akiosk, or in any other manner. It is also noted that the describedtechniques may apply in other client/server arrangements (e.g., set-topboxes, etc.), as well as in non-client/server arrangements (e.g.,locally stored applications, etc.).

FIG. 3 depicts a simplified example user interface 300 in whichadditional techniques for providing workflow templates may beimplemented. For example, the example user interface 300 may beconfigured to enable a user and/or developer to create one or moretemplate resources such as, but not limited to, the workflow template132 of FIGS. 1 and 2 and/or the template-based workflow 130 of FIGS. 1and 2. In some examples, the user interface 300 may provide links and/ortext fields for selection and/or text input, respectively. For example,a user may select the “type” link 302 for selecting one or more templatetypes from a list or other selectable organization. Additionally, insome examples, a service name 304 may be entered in a text field. Theservice name may indicate a particular template name for the templatebeing created or it may indicate the proxy service with which theworkflow will attempt to communicate. In some examples, the userinterface 300 may also include a location text field 306. The location306 may indicate a physical or logical storage device location for thetemplate resource to be stored or from where the template resource is tobe retrieved.

Description text field 308 may allow the user or developer to input adescription of the template and/or the workflow being generated. Theuser may utilize this section to annotate or otherwise comment on thetemplate resource such that it will be more identifiable for laterutilization (e.g., with other workflows or the like). In some examples,a from template check box 310 may enable selection of one or morestandard of which to base the main flow of the template being created.For example, when selected, the selected standard workflow may serve asa prototype for the new template. Additionally, a message text field 312may be utilized for providing error messages to users (e.g., “templatewith the name foo already exists,” or the like). When updating apreviously generated template resource, in some aspects, the updates mayhave immediate effect on message handling options of any template-basedworkflows instantiated from the template resource. A help link 314 maybe provided for enabling access to one or more help files and/orknowledge base information associated with the user interface 300 and/oroperation of the service bus 104. Further, a next link 316 may beprovided for advancing the user and/or developer to the next step increation of the template resource. However, in some examples, a finishlink may be provided instead of the next link 316, when the informationprovided in the user interface 300 is enough to create the templateresource without additional steps.

FIG. 4 depicts an additional simplified example user interface 400 inwhich additional techniques for providing workflow templates may beimplemented. For example, the example UI 400 may be configured toprovide additional configuration options to users and/or developers.Additionally, the UI 400 may provide a visual representation of thetemplate resource and/or the message flow generated based at least inpart on the template resource. In some examples, the UI 400 may beprovided to a developer or other administrator for designing templateresources. These template resources may then be utilized to instantiatea template-based workflow and/or one or more executable workflows suchas, but not limited to, the executable workflow 216 described in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 4, the UI 400 may be described as a template flowdesign UI (otherwise referred to as a template resource design UI ortemplate message flow design UI). The template flow design UI 400 mayinclude a visual representation of a service flow 402, detailing aspectsof a one or more pipeline pairs 404, each of which may contain one ormore stages. Additionally, the top level of the service flow 402 mayinclude a branch node and/or a route node in place of, or along with,the pipeline pair node 404 shown. In some aspects, a developer oradministrator associated with a client application may be able tophysically place, select, or otherwise manipulate the icons of thetemplate flow design UI 400 with use of a mouse or other input device.The pipeline pair 404 may include a request flow 406 and/or a responseflow 408. In some examples, the request flow 406 may indicateinstructions and/or actions to be performed during the workflow portionassociated with requests received from client applications.

Additionally, in some examples, the response flow 408 may indicateinstructions and/or actions to be performed during the workflow portionof the flow associated with responses sent back to the clientapplications. The response flow 408 and/or the response sent back to theclient applications may be based at least in part on a response receivedfrom a proxy service.

In some examples, a branch node may be a conditional branch node or anoperational branch node. The branch node may also contain pipeline pairnodes and/or route nodes. In some aspects, a pipeline pair node may havea request pipeline and/or a response pipeline (in some cases as a pair,e.g., request and response). A pipeline may be made up of zero or morestages. Similarly, a stage may be made up of zero or more actions. Whenpresent, a route node may be last in the flow 402 and/or may containactions. A message flow may be defined as a collection of nodesorganized in a tree that represent router logic. A branch node may bedefined as a node that provides conditional path processing in the flow.A pipeline pair node may be defined as a node that includes a pair ofpipelines for general processing. A route node may be defined as a nodeconfigured to perform outbound communication with another service. Insome non-limiting, examples, a route node may only appear at the end ofa path in the message flow 402. A pipeline may be defined as a namedsequence of stages representing a non-branching one-way processing path,according to some examples. A stage may include a named sequence ofactions. Further, an action may include a user-configured processingstep (e.g., transformation, routing, etc.).

Additionally, in some examples, request and response paths may becreated by pairing request and response pipelines together andorganizing them into a single-rooted tree structure. A branching nodemay allow for conditional execution and routing nodes at the ends of thebranches may perform request and/or response dispatching. This treestructure may allow for a clear overview of the router behavior, makingboth routing actions and branching conditions explicit parts of theoverall design, rather than burying them deep inside of a pipelinestage. A message flow may be constructed by chaining together instancesof at least three top-level components including, but not limited to,the pipeline pair node, the branching node, and/or the routing node. Thepipeline-pair node may tie together a single request and a singleresponse pipeline into one top-level element. A pipeline-pair node may,in some examples, have only one direct descendant in the message flow.During request processing, the request pipeline may be executed whenvisiting a pipeline-pair node. When reversing the path for responseprocessing, the response pipeline may then be executed.

Additionally, a branching node may allow processing to proceed down oneor more (or exactly one, in some examples) of several possible paths.Branching may be driven by a simple lookup table with each branch taggedwith a string value (in some cases, utilizing unique string values foreach). An expression configured in the branch node may be evaluatedagainst the message context, and its value may be used to determinewhich branch to follow. If no branch matches the value of the branchexpression, then a default branch may be followed. A branching node mayhave several descendants in the message flow: one for each branchincluding the default branch. Further, the routing node may be used toperform request/response communication with another service. It may, insome aspects, represent the boundary between request and responseprocessing for the proxy. When the routing node dispatches a requestmessage, request processing may be considered over. When the routingnode receives a response message, response processing may begin. Therouting node may have support for conditional routing as well asoutbound and response transformations. Whether conditions appear insidethe routing node or up in the message flow as branching nodes may beconfigured by the user. As the routing node represents the boundarybetween request and response processing, it may not have any descendantsin the message flow.

In addition to a ‘standard’ branching node (i.e. a conditional branch oroperational branch), a template-based workflow may also have a‘template’ branching node (i.e. a template conditional branch and/or atemplate operational branch). Compared to a standard branching node,which may have an unlimited number of branches and each branch condition(conditional expression or operation name) may have to be fullyconfigured, the template branch node may only have two branches: themain branch and the default branch, which do not have to be fullyconfigured. Both the main branch and the default branch in the templatemay serve as mini-templates for the branch flow in the instantiatedworkflow and may contain placeholders and pipeline pair nodes. The mainbranch may be a mini-template for a specific condition/operation in theyet-to-be-instantiated workflow, and the default branch may be amini-template for a flow that is not covered via the main branchconfiguration (similar to a switch/case statement in C++ or java). Whenthe user creates a template-based workflow from this template, they mayneed to fully specify the number of branches as well as acondition/operation for each of the branches. For example, the mainbranch of the operational template branch may contain a pipeline pairnode, a stage, and a log action. In this case, all configured branchesof the workflow instantiated from this template may follow the same flowpattern: a pipeline pair node, a stage, and a log action.

Each of the flows, either the request flow 406 and/or the response flow408, may include one or more stages 410(1)-(N), “If-Then-Else actions”412(1)-(N), actions 414(1)-(N), and/or placeholders 416(1)-(N). Eachstage 410 may include or otherwise indicate the process flow and/orinstructions to be performed at a given portion of the message flow.Conditions 412 may provide the ability to enable conditional processingduring the message flow (e.g., utilizing if/then statements or otherconditional phrases). Actions 414 may include any action to be performedon the data or other parameters associated with the request or theresponse. For example, while the action 414(1) of FIG. 4 is shown as a“log” action any action may be inserted here including, but not limitedto, assign, delete, insert, java callout, MFL transform, NXSDTranslation, rename, replace, validate, alert, report, for each, ifthen, raise error, reply, resume, skip, publish, and/or route, to nameonly a few. Additionally, actions may be locked such that they may notbe overridden, changed, edited, or otherwise altered by a client of theservice bus (e.g., pipeline resources that utilize this template objector the like). As such, when locked, an action 414 may indicate a commonpolicy or rule to be inherited by all template-based workflows thatutilize this template. Additionally, when actions 414 are unlocked,default information may be provided in the event that a client does notassign an action 414 or a parameter associated with the action 414.

In some cases, an action placeholder 416 may indicate a location(provided by the administrator or developer) where a client may insertany actions. Additionally, an stage placeholder 417 may indicate alocation where a client may insert a stage. In this way, the templatemay be customizable to a certain degree. That is, once the design of thetemplate resource is completed via the template flow design UI 400,client entities and/or users of the service bus may utilize a second UIto configure the template flow by adding new actions at the placeholders416, 417 and/or editing/configuring unlocked actions 414. Alternatively,or in addition, the users may add new actions at the placeholders whenediting the flow of the pipeline resource that uses the template.Additionally, in some aspects, branching functions may be utilized.Conditional branches (e.g., similar to a switch statement) may beinserted into the service flow 402. For example, a conditional branchmay state that if a value equals 1, a certain action should be taken,while if the value equals 2, a different branch should be followed. Insome cases, the branch function may be considered a mini templateresource, a nested template resource, and/or a template function withina template resource.

FIG. 5 depicts an additional simplified example user interface 500 inwhich additional techniques for providing workflow templates may beimplemented. For example, the example UI 500 may be configured toprovide template-based pipeline configuration options to users of theservice bus. For example, the UI 400 may have enabled creation of thetemplate resource based at least in part on policies of the clientapplication and/or policies associated with the developer that createdthe template resource. However, the UI 500 may be utilized by anotheruser or client entity of the client application to implement orotherwise utilize the template resource created via the UI 400.Additionally, in some examples, the standard pipeline design UI 500 maybe configured to allow users to instantiate template-based workflowsthat inherit (e.g., automatically) features, parameters, actions, and/orupdates associated with the UI 500.

In some examples, a user may access the UI 500 to configure atemplate-based pipeline. In other words, the template resource may havebeen created with particular actions locked and other actions unlockedand, via the UI 500, a user may configure at least the unlocked actions.For example, the log actions shown in FIG. 5 within the shaded areas mayhave been provided (and/or locked) by a developer utilizing the UI 400.As such, a user using the UI 500 to configure the template-basedpipeline for use within a workflow engine may insert one or more actions502(1)-(N) within each stage 504(1)-(N). However, the log actions, iflocked, may not be changed or may at least have particular parametersthat cannot be changed. For example, the log action may be locked suchthat a log action is always executed at this point in the workflow;however, a user may configure what is logged, and/or how muchinformation is logged. Other configurations are possible as well thatmay provide configuration of the log action without eliminating oroverriding the log action itself. Additionally, if no actions are placedat actions 502, and the placeholders 416 of FIG. 4 are left blank by theuser, the template resource and/or any template-based workflow thatinherits from the template resource may still inherit the log action.Additionally, if unlocked by a developer via the UI 400 of FIG. 4, otherstages such as, but not limited to, stage 506(1)-(N) may be selectedsuch that the user may define other stages of the request flow 508and/or the response flow 510.

FIG. 6 depicts an example service bus 600 for implementing the workflowtemplates described above. In some examples, the service bus 600 mayinclude a service management module 602, a message brokering module 604,a configuration framework module 606, a service bus security module 608,and/or a messaging/protocols module 610. Additionally, in some examples,the messaging/protocols module 610 may describe which protocols may besupported by the service bus 600. For example, the service bus 600 maysupport requests received by client applications based at least in parton the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), the secure hypertext transferprotocol (HTTPS), the simple object access protocol (SOAP), the javamessage service (JMS), message queues (MQs), the simple mail transferprotocol (SMTP), the file transfer protocol (FTP), and/or the Filescheme. Additionally, the service bus may also be able to managerequests and/or responses written using the transactions for Unix,extended for the distributed operations (Tuxedo) specification and/orthe JavaBeans (EJB) specification.

In some aspects, the message brokering module 604 of the service bus 600may include content-based routing of requests and/or responses, dynamictransformation of requests and/or responses, error handling, serviceswitching, and/or an implementation of message flows 612. The servicebus security module may include authentication, authorization, identifymanagement, and/or message security functionality. Additionally, in someexamples, the configuration framework module 606 may include a servicedirectory, a change center, validation, imports, exports, and/or a datarepository of configuration information. Further, the service managementmodule 602 of the service bus 600 may be configured for monitoring ofrequests and/or responses, providing service-level agreement (SLA)alerts, and/or reporting information associated with the service bus 600and/or the message flows 612.

FIG. 7 depicts an example high level architecture 700 for implementingthe workflow templates and/or the service bus 600 described above withreference to at least FIG. 6 (or the service bus 104 of at least FIG.1). In some examples a service bus console (otherwise described as a UI)702 may be provided. Additionally, in some examples, the console 702 maybe hosted, run, or otherwise implemented within a WebLogic server (orother server-type architecture). For example, the lightweight portalframework 704 may be part of such a server-type architecture (e.g.,running within a Java EE environment). Aside from the console 702, theservice bus 600 of FIG. 6 may also implement a service bus developmentmodule 706 configured to provide services and/or resources fordeveloping or otherwise creating template resources. Additionally, theservice bus 600 may also implement a service bus runtime module 708. Theservice bus runtime module 708 may be configured to implement a messageflow engine as well as an actions software development kit (SDK) and/ora transport SDK. Common services that may be shared by both the serverapplications and the service bus may include monitoring and alerting,reporting, configuration frameworks, user credentials, and/or accesscontrols. Additionally, other server-side applications that may beshared with the service bus 600 may include a security framework,message driven beans (MDBs), lightweight web applications, workmanagers, and/or deployment frameworks.

FIG. 8 depicts an example service bus message flow 800 for implementingthe workflow templates and/or the service buses described above. In someexamples, a proxy service 126 (e.g., from FIG. 1) of the service bus mayreceive requests from clients 106 (e.g., from FIG. 1) and/or provide therequests to services (otherwise referred to as proxy services) 806 via abusiness service 128 (e.g., from FIG. 1). Requests may be received bythe inbound transport module 808 based at least in part on any type oftransport protocol such as, but not limited to, HTTP, HTTPS, JMS, File,FTP, and/or email. A binding component 810 may then bind each request toa particular protocol or format for processing (e.g., based at least inpart on SOAP, the extensible markup language (XML), text files, binarycode, the message format language (MFL), and/or attachments). In someaspects, the message flows may be independent of the transport 808and/or the binding 810. Additionally, outbound messages from theoutbound transport module 812 may be independent from inbound messagesreceived by the inbound transport module 808. Further, a streaminginterface may be utilized to process messages between the transportmodules 808, 812 and the message flow module 814.

In some examples, the message flow module 814 may process the messageutilizing a workflow engine or a pipeline created by one or moredevelopers and/or users associated with the client 106. As noted, themessage flow 814 may also include one or more template resources 816. Assuch, the message flow 814 may perform one or more actions and/orbranches, and may also resolve one or more conditions. Additionally,based at least in part on the template resource 816, the message flow814 may inherit changes or other policies associated with the templateresource 816 instantiated therein. Upon processing the message flow 814,the service bus may callout, publish, and/or route information to thebusiness service module 128. The business service module 128 may bindthe message to an appropriate protocol and then pass the message to theoutbound transport module 812 which may be configured to enabletransmission of the message (also referred to as a request) to theservice 806.

FIG. 9 depicts another example service bus message flow 900 forimplementing the workflow templates and/or the service buses describedabove. In some examples, a proxy service 126 (e.g., from FIG. 1) of theservice bus may receive requests from a service consumer 902. In someexamples, the proxy service 126 may include an error flow module 904and/or a message flow module 906. The error flow module 904 may beconfigured for error handling when a protocol is not recognized or anaction is expecting particular parameters that are not received. Muchlike message flow 906, the error flow 904 may include one or more stages908(1)-(N) and/or one or more actions 910(1)-(N). Additionally, themessage flow module 906 may include a request flow 912 and a responseflow 914. The request flow 912 may be configured to receive and/orprocess requests received by the service consumer (i.e., a clientapplication). The response flow 914 may be configured to process and/ortransmit requests to be sent back to the service consumer. Further, insome examples, the request flow 912 may be configured to instantiate athread 916 for providing the request to a route node 918, which may, inturn, provide the request to an endpoint 920 (e.g., the business service128 of FIGS. 1 and 8).

In some aspects, the endpoint 920 may provide a message from thebusiness service 128 or other endpoint to the route node 918. A secondthread 922 may be created or utilized to provide this message to theresponse flow 914. The response flow 914 may be configured to performone or more actions, similar to the request flow 912, including, but notlimited to, log, assign, delete, insert, java callout, transform,translate, rename, replace, validate, alert, report, reply, resume,skip, publish, and/or service callout. The response flow 914 may alsotransmit the message back to the service consumer 902. Additionally, asnoted above, each of the request flow 912 and/or the response flow 914may exist as a result of having instantiated one of the templateresources 922, 924, respectively and/or one or more actions. Thetemplate resources 922, 924 may include developer configured actions,user configured actions, and/or may inherit changes made to the templateresources 922, 924 without recompiling or otherwise re-instantiating theproxy service 126.

FIGS. 10-12 illustrate simplified example flow diagrams showingrespective processes 1000, 1100, and 1200 for providing workflowtemplates. These processes are illustrated as logical flow diagrams,each operation of which represents a sequence of operations that can beimplemented in hardware, computer instructions, or a combinationthereof. In the context of computer instructions, the operations mayrepresent computer-executable instructions stored on one or morecomputer-readable storage media that, when executed by one or moreprocessors, perform the recited operations. Generally,computer-executable instructions may include routines, programs,objects, components, data structures, and the like that performparticular functions or implement particular data types. The order inwhich the operations are described is not intended to be construed as alimitation, any number of the described operations can be omitted, andany number of the described operations can be combined in any orderand/or in parallel to implement the processes.

Additionally, some, any, or all of the processes may be performed underthe control of one or more computer systems configured with executableinstructions and may be implemented as code (e.g., executableinstructions, one or more computer programs, or one or moreapplications) executing collectively on one or more processors, byhardware, or combinations thereof. As noted above, the code may bestored on a computer-readable storage medium, for example, in the formof a computer program comprising a plurality of instructions executableby one or more processors. The computer-readable storage medium may benon-transitory.

In some aspects, the process 1000 of FIG. 10 may be performed by atleast the service bus module 124 of FIG. 1. The process 1000 may beginat 1002 where the process 1000 may include creating a workflow resource(also referred to herein as a “template-based workflow”) based at leastin part on a workflow template. In some examples, the workflow templatemay receive actions, either locked or unlocked, conditional statements,and/or branches. The workflow resource may be designed by a developer oradministrator associated with a client application and/or configured bya user associated with the client application. In some examples, theworkflow resource may be an object (e.g., a type of programming resourceutilized in object-oriented programming) that represents a templateconfigured by the client application (or developers, etc.). This objectmay inherit later changes made to the template. The process 1000 mayalso include generating a plurality of message flows at 1004. Theplurality of message flows may be generated based at least in part onthe workflow resource. In some aspects, each of the plurality of messageflows may inherit the template such that changes to the template mayautomatically update each of the generated message flows. Additionally,the message flows may be referred to as pipelines and/or workflows andmay comprise a regular non-template-based message flow merged with aworkflow resource or template resource.

The process 1000 may include receiving a request to access a proxyservice. The proxy service may be any type of proxy service that aclient application may wish to access. The request to access the proxyservice may include a request from a client application and/or a requestfor data stored with or otherwise managed by the proxy service. Theprocess 1000 may end at 1006, where the process 1000 may includeprocessing the request from the remote application based at least inpart on the message flow. That is, the message flow that was generatedusing the workflow resource (i.e., based at least in part on templateconfigured by the client application) may process the resource requestfrom the client application. This processing may follow or at least beconstrained by the configuration and/or policies of the template and maybe updated in real-time whenever changes are made to the template.

FIG. 11 illustrates a simplified example flow diagram showing theprocess 1100 for providing workflow templates. In some aspects, theprocess 1100 of FIG. 11 may be performed by at least the service busmodule 124 of FIG. 1. The process 1100 may include providing a userinterface configured to enable a client application to configure aworkflow template. The user interface may be a graphical user interfaceand may provide a visual representation of a pipeline or other workflowengine. Actions, conditions, stages, and/or branches may be added by anadministrator, developer, or other user associated with the clientapplication. In some aspects, configuring the workflow template mayinclude providing locked actions that cannot be changed and/or providingplaceholders for other developers or other users to add actions asdesired. At 1102, the process 1100 may begin by including generation ofa workflow resource based at least in part on the workflow template. Asdiscussed, the workflow resource may be made up of a workflow object (orother instructions for processing a workflow) merged with the workflowtemplate.

In some examples, the process 1100 may include generating a plurality ofworkflows at 1104. Workflows may define workflow engine tasks orprocesses to be performed for the client applications. Each workflow maybe associated with a particular type of request to be made by the clientapplication and/or may be associated with a particular proxy service tobe accessed. In some cases, the workflows may inherit from the workflowresources and/or workflow templates such that changes made to theworkflow template may update the workflow in real-time. At 1106, theprocess 1100 may also include receiving a request to access a proxyservice. Further, the process 1100 may end at 1108, where the process1100 may include processing the request from the client applicationbased at least in part on the workflow. In this way, a clientapplication may continue to make requests for proxy services to amediator or translator operating the workflow (e.g., the service bus ofFIG. 1) without updating each workflow when changes are requested. Thatis, changes to a template, made by the client application, mayautomatically and in real-time update each of the plurality of workflowsthat inherit from the template being updated.

FIG. 12 illustrates a simplified example flow diagram showing theprocess 1200 for configuring and/or utilizing workflow templates by auser. In some aspects, the process 1200 of FIG. 12 may be performed byat least the service bus module 124 of FIG. 1 and/or utilizing at leastthe UI 300 of FIG. 3. The process 1200 may begin at 1202, where theprocess 1200 may include the user accessing a user interface of aservice bus application. The service bus application may be configuredas part of a workflow engine or mediator for translating or otherwisetransforming requests from one protocol to another and/or from oneclient application to a proxy service independent of the protocols usedby each. At 1204, the process 1200 may include the user configuring amessage flow template. As noted, configuring the message flow templatemay include designing the message flow template for others to configure(e.g., inserting placeholders, locked actions, and/or unlocked actions)and/or configuring an already designed message flow template (e.g.,configuring actions and/or inserting actions into placeholders).

In some examples, the process 1200 may also include instantiating aworkflow at 1206. Instantiating a workflow may be done via a UI or otherapplication configured to enable a user to create or launch a workflow.At 1208, the process 1200 may include utilizing the workflow to accessone or more proxy services. Additionally, in some examples, the user maywish to make changes to the template. As such, at 1210, the process 1200may include a user updating the message flow template. By updating themessage flow template, the user may effectively update each instantiatedworkflow that includes the message flow template and/or inherits fromthe message flow template. Further, the process 1200 may end at 1212,where the process 1200 may include the user utilizing the workflow toaccess the proxy services (e.g., similar to at 1208). However, at 1212,the user may utilize the workflow without re-instantiating the workflowservice. In other words, the changes to the workflow template may haveautomatically updated the workflow such that the workflow does not needto be redeployed, re-instantiated, re-configured, or otherwise changedat all.

FIG. 13 is a simplified block diagram illustrating components of asystem environment 1300 that may be used in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. As shown, system environment 1300includes one or more client computing devices 1302, 1304, 1306, 1308,which are configured to operate a client application such as a webbrowser, proprietary client (e.g., Oracle Forms), or the like. Invarious embodiments, client computing devices 1302, 1304, 1306, and 1308may interact with a server 1312.

Client computing devices 1302, 1304, 1306, 1308 may be general purposepersonal computers (including, by way of example, personal computersand/or laptop computers running various versions of Microsoft Windowsand/or Apple Macintosh operating systems), cell phones or PDAs (runningsoftware such as Microsoft Windows Mobile and being Internet, e-mail,SMS, Blackberry, or other communication protocol enabled), and/orworkstation computers running any of a variety of commercially-availableUNIX or UNIX-like operating systems (including without limitation thevariety of GNU/Linux operating systems). Alternatively, client computingdevices 1302, 1304, 1306, and 1308 may be any other electronic device,such as a thin-client computer, Internet-enabled gaming system, and/orpersonal messaging device, capable of communicating over a network(e.g., network 1310 described below). Although exemplary systemenvironment 1300 is shown with four client computing devices, any numberof client computing devices may be supported. Other devices such asdevices with sensors, etc. may interact with server 1312.

System environment 1300 may include a network 1310. Network 1310 may beany type of network familiar to those skilled in the art that cansupport data communications using any of a variety ofcommercially-available protocols, including without limitation TCP/IP,SNA, IPX, AppleTalk, and the like. Merely by way of example, network1310 can be a local area network (LAN), such as an Ethernet network, aToken-Ring network and/or the like; a wide-area network; a virtualnetwork, including without limitation a virtual private network (VPN);the Internet; an intranet; an extranet; a public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN); an infra-red network; a wireless network (e.g., anetwork operating under any of the IEEE 802.11 suite of protocols, theBluetooth protocol known in the art, and/or any other wirelessprotocol); and/or any combination of these and/or other networks.

System environment 1300 also includes one or more server computers 1312which may be general purpose computers, specialized server computers(including, by way of example, PC servers, UNIX servers, mid-rangeservers, mainframe computers, rack-mounted servers, etc.), server farms,server clusters, or any other appropriate arrangement and/orcombination. In various embodiments, server 1312 may be adapted to runone or more services or software applications described in the foregoingdisclosure. For example, server 1312 may correspond to a server forperforming processing described above according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

Server 1312 may run an operating system including any of those discussedabove, as well as any commercially available server operating system.Server 1312 may also run any of a variety of additional serverapplications and/or mid-tier applications, including HTTP servers, FTPservers, CGI servers, Java servers, database servers, and the like.Exemplary database servers include without limitation those commerciallyavailable from Oracle, Microsoft, Sybase, IBM and the like.

System environment 1300 may also include one or more databases 1314,1316. Databases 1314, 1316 may reside in a variety of locations. By wayof example, one or more of databases 1314, 1316 may reside on anon-transitory storage medium local to (and/or resident in) server 1312.Alternatively, databases 1314, 1316 may be remote from server 1312, andin communication with server 1312 via a network-based or dedicatedconnection. In one set of embodiments, databases 1314, 1316 may residein a storage-area network (SAN) familiar to those skilled in the art.Similarly, any necessary files for performing the functions attributedto server 1312 may be stored locally on server 1312 and/or remotely, asappropriate. In one set of embodiments, databases 1314, 1316 may includerelational databases, such as databases provided by Oracle, that areadapted to store, update, and retrieve data in response to SQL-formattedcommands.

FIG. 14 is a simplified block diagram of a computer system 1400 that maybe used in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Forexample the computing systems 102 of FIG. 1 may be implemented using asystem such as system 1400. Computer system 1400 is shown comprisinghardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus 1424. Thehardware elements may include one or more central processing units(CPUs) 1402, one or more input devices 1404 (e.g., a mouse, a keyboard,etc.), and one or more output devices 1406 (e.g., a display device, aprinter, etc.). Computer system 1400 may also include one or morestorage devices 1408. By way of example, the storage device(s) 1408 mayinclude devices such as disk drives, optical storage devices, andsolid-state storage devices such as a random access memory (RAM) and/ora read-only memory (ROM), which can be programmable, flash-updateableand/or the like.

Computer system 1400 may additionally include a computer-readablestorage media reader 1412, a communications subsystem 1414 (e.g., amodem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infra-red communicationdevice, etc.), and working memory 1418, which may include RAM and ROMdevices as described above. In some embodiments, computer system 1400may also include a processing acceleration unit 1416, which can includea digital signal processor (DSP), a special-purpose processor, and/orthe like.

Computer-readable storage media reader 1412 can further be connected toa computer-readable storage medium 1410, together (and, optionally, incombination with storage device(s) 1408) comprehensively representingremote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices plus storagemedia for temporarily and/or more permanently containingcomputer-readable information. Communications system 1414 may permitdata to be exchanged with network 1412 and/or any other computerdescribed above with respect to system environment 1400.

Computer system 1400 may also comprise software elements, shown as beingcurrently located within working memory 1418, including an operatingsystem 1420 and/or other code 1422, such as an application program(which may be a client application, Web browser, mid-tier application,RDBMS, etc.). In an exemplary embodiment, working memory 1418 mayinclude executable code and associated data structures used by a relyingparty and open authorization-related processing as described above. Itshould be appreciated that alternative embodiments of computer system1400 may have numerous variations from that described above. Forexample, customized hardware might also be used and/or particularelements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portablesoftware, such as applets), or both. Further, connection to othercomputing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.

Storage media and computer-readable media for containing code, orportions of code, can include any appropriate media known or used in theart, including storage media and communication media, such as, but notlimited to, volatile and non-volatile (non-transitory), removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storageand/or transmission of information such as computer-readableinstructions, data structures, program modules, or other data, includingRAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM,digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical storage, magneticcassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, data signals, data transmissions, or any other mediumwhich can be used to store or transmit the desired information and whichcan be accessed by a computer.

Although specific embodiments of the disclosure have been described,various modifications, alterations, alternative constructions, andequivalents are also encompassed within the scope of the disclosure.Embodiments of the present disclosure are not restricted to operationwithin certain specific data processing environments, but are free tooperate within a plurality of data processing environments.Additionally, although embodiments of the present disclosure have beendescribed using a particular series of transactions and steps, it shouldbe apparent to those skilled in the art that the scope of the presentdisclosure is not limited to the described series of transactions andsteps.

Further, while embodiments of the present disclosure have been describedusing a particular combination of hardware and software, it should berecognized that other combinations of hardware and software are alsowithin the scope of the present disclosure. Embodiments of the presentdisclosure may be implemented only in hardware, or only in software, orusing combinations thereof.

The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense. It will, however, beevident that additions, subtractions, deletions, and other modificationsand changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broaderspirit and scope. Illustrative methods and systems for providing thefeatures described herein are described above. Some or all of thesesystems and methods may, but need not, be implemented at least partiallyby architectures such as those shown in FIGS. 1-13 above.

Although embodiments have been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the disclosure is not necessarily limited to the specific featuresor acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosedas illustrative forms of implementing the embodiments. Conditionallanguage, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,”unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within thecontext as used, is generally intended to convey that certainembodiments could include, while other embodiments do not include,certain features, elements, and/or steps. Thus, such conditionallanguage is not generally intended to imply that features, elements,and/or steps are in any way required for one or more embodiments or thatone or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with orwithout user input or prompting, whether these features, elements,and/or steps are included or are to be performed in any particularembodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a memory storing aplurality of instructions; and one or more processors configured toaccess the memory, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to execute the plurality of instructions to: create, by aservice bus application, a template-based workflow that comprises anaction, the template-based workflow created based at least in part on atemplate, and the template associated with configuration information;identify a placeholder in the template and a location of theplaceholder; enable configuration of additional actions for thetemplate-based workflow at the location; generate, by the service busapplication, a message flow for use within the service bus applicationbased at least in part on the configuration information and theadditional actions; and process, by the service bus application, arequest to access a proxy service in communication with the service busapplication based at least in part on the message flow.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured toexecute the plurality of instructions to provide a graphical userinterface associated with the template configured to enable input of theconfiguration information.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein theconfiguration information identifies at least one parameter associatedwith a third-party application.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein therequest is received from the third-party application.
 5. The system ofclaim 3, wherein the service bus application is configured to mediatebetween the third-party application and the proxy service.
 6. The systemof claim 5, wherein the proxy service comprises a web service.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to execute the plurality of instructions to: receive updatedconfiguration information via the template; update the template-basedworkflow based at least in part on the updated configurationinformation; and automatically update the message flow based at least inpart on the updated template-based workflow.
 8. A non-transitorycomputer-readable memory storing a plurality of instructions executableby one or more computer systems, the plurality of instructionscomprising: instructions that cause the one or more computer systems toinstruct the service bus application to generate a template-basedworkflow that comprises an action, the template-based workflow generatedbased at least in part on a workflow template, and the templateassociated with configuration information; instructions that cause theone or more computer systems to identify a placeholder in the templateand a location of the placeholder; instructions that cause the one ormore computer systems to enable configuration of additional actions forthe template-based workflow at the location; instructions that cause theone or more computer systems to instruct the service bus application togenerate a plurality of workflows for use within the service busapplication based at least in part on the configuration information andthe additional actions, at least one of the plurality of workflowsincluding at least the template-based workflow; and instructions thatcause the one or more computer systems to instruct the service busapplication to process a request to access a web service based at leastin part on the at least one of the plurality of workflows.
 9. Thenon-transitory computer-readable memory of claim 8, wherein the workflowtemplate includes at least configuration information associated with aremote application.
 10. The non-transitory computer-readable memory ofclaim 8, wherein the at least one of the plurality of workflows thatincludes the template-based workflow is configured to inherit a changemade to the template-based workflow.
 11. The non-transitorycomputer-readable memory of claim 10, wherein the change is made to thetemplate-based workflow based at least in part on an update, by a remoteapplication, of the workflow template.
 12. The non-transitorycomputer-readable memory of claim 8, wherein the plurality of workflowsare configured to at least translate the request to access the webservice into a request configured for transmission to the web service.13. The non-transitory computer-readable memory of claim 8, wherein theadditional actions corresponding to the placeholder comprisecustomizable actions.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readable memory ofclaim 8, wherein the plurality of instructions further comprise:instructions that cause the one or more computer systems to receive,from a remote application, a change to the template; and instructionsthat cause the one or more computer systems to update, in real-time, atleast one of the template-based workflow or the message flow based atleast in part on the change.
 15. A computer-implemented method,comprising: providing, by a computer system, a user interface configuredto enable a client application to configure a workflow template, theworkflow template configured to include at least configurationinformation associated with the client application; generating, by thecomputer system, a template-based workflow that comprises an action, thetemplate-based workflow created based at least in part on the workflowtemplate, and the template associated with configuration information;identifying, by the computer system, a placeholder in the template and alocation of the placeholder; enabling, by the computer system,configuration of additional actions for the template-based workflow atthe location; generating, by the computer system, a plurality ofworkflows for use within the service bus application based at least inpart on the configuration information and the additional actions, eachof the plurality of workflows including at least the template-basedworkflow; and processing, by the computer system, a request to access aproxy service from a client application based at least in part on atleast one of the plurality of workflows.
 16. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 15, further comprising providing a user interfacecomprising at least a graphical user interface component configured toenable entrance of the configuration information associated with theclient application.
 17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16,wherein the graphical user interface component is further configured toenable the client application to update the workflow template with atleast second configuration information.
 18. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 17, wherein each of the plurality of workflows ismodified based at least in part on a change to the template-basedworkflow, the change to the template-based workflow based at least inpart on the updated workflow template.
 19. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 18, wherein each of the plurality of workflows ismodified in real time with reference to the updated workflow template.20. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the pluralityof workflows are configured to perform the additional actions based atleast in part on the template-based workflow.